Nobuyoshi Araki - Tokyo Nude - 1989

Tokyo Nude

Nobuyoshi Araki
Mother Brain/1989/Japanese/300*395*18

Nobuyoshi Araki's Tokyo Nude is a collection of works by one of Japan's most renowned photographers. Edited by Akira Suei, with whom Araki formed a legendary partnership at the magazine Shashin Jidai in the 1980s, this volume holds special significance for Suei. In his book Araki: The Photobook Maniac (2012), Suei cites this very collection as one of his most cherished collaborations with Araki. It's a quintessential Araki volume, featuring double-page spreads of landscapes capturing the chaotic construction of the bubble economy's growth as a crumbling “Tokyo,” alongside expressionless female nudes. Araki, who usually leaves all editing to Suei, was initially enthusiastic about collaborating on this book. But once editing began, he offered a listless, “Sue. I'll leave it to you.” Later, it was revealed that Araki had just received news of his wife Yoko's cancer diagnosis at that time. Suiei writes that every time he looks at this photobook, the crumbling cityscape of Tokyo and the expressionless women seem to overlap with Araki's state of mind, leaving him with a profoundly poignant feeling.